Bad blood rising
by Tatterdelimon
Summary: Ravens demoic heritage is coming to the fore, Slade returns with a chilling prnouncement and the Titans must deal with upheaval in the JLA
1. Chapter 1

Bad blood rising

Trigon the terrible, third baron of hell, mightiest of the Belzulkir's was intrigued.

The news had reached him mere moments ago. a new soul had entered the abyss, but not just any soul. No THIS soul had been touched by true darkness, this was the soul of one who was as a fiend upon the earth This soul was known as Slade.  
He stood before Trigon now. Battered and torn from his battles in reaching the throne of skulls, battles in which he had triumphed over some of the mightiest demons under Trigon's dominion.  
Despite his wounds and the awesome presence of a demon lord, Slade stood straight and tall fixing the demon with a stern unyielding stare.

The mightiest of Balors trembled at the very mention of his coming… yet this mortal dared to stand before him! Despite himself, Trigon was impressed and that was the sole reason he had yet to obliterate the arrogant little upstart.

"Would I be addressing the magnificence that is Trigon the terrible?" the voice was cold, hard revealing nothing save a slight hint of the sardonic, this was a man of strength Trigon didn't doubt that.  
"You would mortal; now tell me why I shouldn't condemn thy soul to torment eternal for thine arrogance"  
The cultured tones seemed strange, coming as they did from a being known as the paragon of slaughter, yet if Slade was surprised or intimidated by this he gave no sign,  
his one visible eye not wavering in the slightest as he spoke "Because I'm the first mortal in over a century to appear before you like this, because I bested your finest warriors…because I have something you want"

Trigon laughed at that, a deep booming sound filled with the echoes of blood and conflict that were his namesake.  
"And what might one such as you presume to offer me? Me? Trigon Mightiest of these 12 layers of the abyss"  
Little did he know that Slade's reply would leave him cold.

"I offer you the means to bring your wayward daughter home"  
For the slightest instant Slade thought that he might have pushed the volatile demon-lord too far, the flames wreathing Trigon had grown both in size and intensity, and when the demon next spoke his voice lacked the cultured archaic tones it had previously held

"What do you know of such things?"

"Give me some credit, I could taste her power the moment I saw her, had it not been for 'other concerns' I would have dealt with her sooner"

"What makes you think I care about what or who my 'daughter' is amusing herself with?"

"I know that, for you to be free she must accept you, give in to the rage that smoulders deep within her soul. I can make this happen, I can drive her from her fiends, force her from those she holds dear until she welcomes you with open arms"  
Smothering his annoyance at this knat's temerity Trigon kept his tone civil as befitted a demon of his station "You presume much, but let us assume that I choose to humour your little boast mortal, what do you wish in return"  
The reply was immediate and expected "Power, dominion, immortality."

Trigon shifted in his throne and smiled; perhaps this arrangement would not be quite so odious after all

"How do you plan on achieving your goal?"

"By awakening the girl to what she is. The Titans know and love Raven the girl, we shall see how they feel about Raven daughter of Trigon."

Trigon stood, all doubt erased form his mind, here stood one worthy of being his hand upon the earth, such deviousness should be carefully nurtured and watched, lest it give the mortal ideas above his station.  
"You have a deal mortal. From this moment on you are my herald, my right hand upon the earth. Do my will and worlds shall tremble at the mention your name. Fail and"  
Trigon trailed off, humans were such inventive creatures and whatever torture the man before him could devise would most likely be more deliciously ironic then his own should the event arise.

Slade dropped into a deep bow, head bent and arm clasped to his chest; the picture of the perfect servant "Your will be done…master…" 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Ki….YAAA"  
A perfectly executed spear-hand sliced through the training dummy sending it's head flying across the room.  
To put it bluntly Robin was bored.  
Times had been fairly quiet since Brother Blood had been dealt with. Most of the major crooks either were in hiding or incarcerated, especially after the increase in justice league activity these past few months.  
Despite himself, Robin missed all the excitement, the life or death struggles, neither he nor Batman would actually admit it but it was what they lived for, the thrill of the hunt, the satisfying crunch of fist upon lawbreaking flesh…

Robin wasn't the only one getting twitchy during this period of calm, Beast boy and Cyborg were feeling the boredom fiercely, and being confined to the tower until the Justice league finished finalising its control over their jurisdiction in the city, were slowly but steadily going mad, dragging the rest of them along for the ride.

The League…that was another sore point, BB and Cyborg might welcome the chance to work with great heroes like the Green lantern, Wonder Woman and Superman (especially Wonder woman). But Robin and Raven weren't as pleased. Robin saw it as unnecessary interference and Raven was against anything that meant being stuck in the same building as BB for over a month.

"For the last time…go AWAY"  
Ahh, the sweet sound of Raven getting pissed at BB. AGAIN! Whilst the little green shape shifter was his friend, even Robin's patience was being pressed to the limits.

"Oh come on Raven! We're just bored, can't you stop being such a grouch for onc-AIIEEEEE!"

Robin sighed in exasperation, judging from the scream and ensuing blissful silence Raven had shoved Beast boy into one of her portals again, which mean that he cold be turning up ANYWHERE.  
The last time he'd ended up in Starfire's underwear drawer, and he'd only just finished putting the wall back up…

As the thought of the bouncy Tameranean crossed his mind, Robin redoubled his efforts in destroying the punching bag.

Starfire left a week before the new league's formation saying something 'family troubles' and left the same day. She'd been gone for nearly a month now and Robin was seriously considering going out after her, league ruling be damned.

(Shhffft)

Robin looked up from his pummelling of the punch-bag as Raven entered the room hovering a few inches above the floor and muttering sulphuriously.  
That was another thing that had the boy wonder worried; Raven had been getting increasingly short tempered lately, of course the same could be said of him, but in Ravens case it seemed more then just being stuck in a confined space with tweedle-dumb and tweedle-dee

"You didn't kill him this time did you?" asked Robin, not awesomely concerned, BB had been getting on his nerves lately but he wasn't in the mood or another recruitment drive anytime soon either.

"Can't you do something about them? I'm not sure I can take much more!" a warning crackle of black energy and a slight tremor accentuated this statement, making doubly sure that Robin knew that Raven's sanity hung on a tread.

"Look I don't like it anymore then you do, but until the league sorts the 'paperwork' out we're confined to the tower."

"So basically we're stuck with Happy the Christmas elf and the tin-woodsman till Superman fixes his tights and fills our membership cards in?" She replied acidly

"Pretty much."

"RaaagH!" Raven's enraged punch tore the innocent punch-bag from its mounting and embedded it in the far wall.

Planet tameran

The cell was dark and cold but its only occupant did not care.  
It had been 2 days since she had last eaten, more since the last time she had seen sunlight but Blackfire did not care, she was too busy locked in her broken dreams of shattered empires and new dreams of revenge.

Her sister had visited earlier, not that Blackfire had paid any attention to her simpering, all she had for Blackfire was sympathy and sympathy was for the weak…

"Blackfire of Tameran."

Blackfire looked up at the sound of the new voice, but remained silent; she had heard the voices before and they came and went whatever she said.  
The silhouette of Slade oozed into view from the shadows like a pool of liquid malice "I have come before you with an offer, Blackfire of Tameran."

If Blackfire had heard him she gave no sign, continuing to sit listlessly in her shackles, the once proud princess reduced to a chained wretch, a shackled wraith of her former self.  
"You have fire in you, Princess of Tameran a strength that not even hopelessness can quash." Slade extended a gloved hand "Join me, become MY apprentice and I shall free you from your bonds, purge you of your weakness, grant you your revenge"  
Blackfire smiled and took the hand, her eyes bathing the cell in sinister lavender light.  
"Offer accepted." 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Blackfire gazed down at the twinkling lights of the city below and inhaled deeply. The fresh night air all the more invigorating now that she was free.

"You know what must be done?"

The voice of her shadowy benefactor roused Blackfire from her musing. In the short time since he'd freed her from her prison on Tameran he had done and said little, other then to put her through the hardest training regime she had ever experienced.  
He was a hard taskmaster, this Slade, demanding and accepting nothing less then perfection… and that suited her just fine. She'd never felt this strong or sure of herself in her life.

Even now she had to stretch her newly sharpened senses just to detect him, and all that she knew was that he was somewhere on the roof.  
"Yes, yes keep a low profile, avoid open conflict with the Titans until your signal and don't bring the 'just us' league down on our heads, I know I know."

Slade let the impertinence pass, as 'mouthy' as Blackfire was he needed her power and unlike his other 'charges' she had proven herself a worthy apprentice when it counted. He could suffer a little lip, provided she remained useful.

Blackfire sighed and turned, using the cover of a luxurious stretch to cover her probing glance into the shadows, one of the first tenants Slade had drilled into her was to always be prepared, to let your guard down was to die. "Out of interest 'Sensei' what will you be doing while I'm here scouting?"

A fist leapt from the shadows at her face, far closer then she had expected but still slow enough to dodge by throwing herself backward her reply was to use the momentum of this evasion to slice her foot trough the darkness at the height she expected Slade's head to be. Her foot met nothing but empty air, but she'd expected that, the only time she'd ever hit Slade was when he'd wanted her to.

"Very good my apprentice, I see my lessons have not been wasted." Slade's voice was coldly approving, an right behind her.

"In response to your question I will be arranging a little surprise for our friends."

Despite himself, Slade felt a flicker of pride at his apprentice's skill and instincts, she had learned well, accepting his teachings and harsh regimes as what they were; the hammer and anvil upon which she would be forged on.

-Slade…-

Slade tensed, all warmth immediately vanished from his stance, his 'parole officer' was here.  
They both turned as a shape began to form in the shadows of the roof, slowly taking the shape of creature that superficially resembled a man in both size and shape, the similarities ended there however; this creatures skin was a dark graphite grey and was almost entirely covered in chains. They ran all over its body, some were spiked, others dotted with blades, all were moving and twitching as if alive themselves. -The master wishes to know why nothing has been done SLAVE, you have had a over a month now-The voice was a soft rasp, like silk over steel and seemed to arrive in Slade and Blackfire's minds without crossing the intervening distance.

"Look, you S&M freak I don't"  
Instantly Slade was between Blackfire and the demon, striking her a sharp blow across the face.

"Quiet! You have you orders, now go and do not fail me." To his surprise Slade felt a twinge of remorse as Blackfire glared spitefully at him and flew off. Striking her was harsh, but he couldn't give Skil'eearth the slightest excuse to Blackfire, she was too valuable to his plans.

-Your 'apprentice' should guard her tongue Slave, lest I tear it from her mouth, your last 'gift' whilst pleasing will not buy her leniency much longer-  
Slade paused before replying, the mention of his 'gift' disrupting his thoughts slightly.

Shortly after freeing Blackfire he had run across her lovely sister; Starfire the one who had cost him his first and most sought after apprentice, she had tried to stop them from leaving, a brave if foolish choice to her credit she had lasted a whole minute against him before falling.  
Skil'eearth had arrived then to wanting to know what he was doing on Tameran.  
Slade had bought his silence with Starfire, the screams that echoed through the lair chilled even his bones.  
Blackfire always fell silent during those times, Slade knew that the hatred for her sister burned hotter then the flames of hell, but even she seemed sickened by her sisters fate.

"A plan such as this one requires delicate preparation Skil'eearth. If even one mistake is made all 'our' work will be for nought." Replied Slade with the patient if bored air of an adult explaining to a child that 2+2 equals 4.  
He felt nothing but contempt for the Kyton Trigon had assigned to watch him. The demon, like most of his kind, lacked vision, and so cared for nothing except what was before him.  
And whilst having an intelligent jailor would have made Slade's plans much more difficult long term, he still hated dealing with him in the short-term.

-The master wants results not excuses! Perhaps a reminder of the penalty for failure?-

Instantly Slade was pulled from his feet, held suspended by a myriad of barbed chains which chattered and clicked, tearing chunks from his flesh. It only lasted for a few moments but the agony was indescribable.  
-Do I make myself clear-  
"…Yes"  
-Yes what slave-  
"Yes…master"  
Skil'eearth straightened and relented, the pain fading as quickly as it came. -Consider that a friendly reminder of your responsibilities, either show some results within the week or this little session shall seem like a lovers caress- and with that the demon vanished. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Blackfire's mind was in chaos, Slade had struck her before, but never just for speaking out of turn.  
That wasn't the only problem though, as much as she hated her sister (and boy did she really hate her) the screams that resounded from her cell seemed a bit…much

But those were problems to be sorted out later, right now she had a job to do.

Finding the Titan's tower was hardly a problem, after all who else lived in a giant T? she still wondered about that… getting to it was child's play too, a body of water was no problem to a talented flyer like her, likewise for the twits the league had sent to guard the city; a fashion reject going by the name of 'Booster Gold' and tweedle dum- sorry 'Plastic man'. She had heard them bickering on her way to meet Slade, if they were the calibre of earth's so called heroes today then she might have had more fun sitting in her cell moping.  
And here was where Slade's master plan hit a snag, she had no way of getting into the tower, the security had been seriously ramped up since the incident with Terra; if she broke in now it would be a toss up between the titans killing her or the security system frying her.  
She touched down on a building overlooking the harbour, the various ducts and gantries on its roof would provide sufficient cover from any League patrols The trick would be to find a plant in the tower, someone she could control, someone they would trust…  
But for now she would have to wait, hidden away in her perch overlooking the harbour watching and waiting for her opening.

1 week later "Ahhh." Sighed Raven, slowly easing down from her crane stance and into the next position of the kata, slowly relaxing and tensing her muscles in turn.  
A few feet away Robin watched from her progress from the middle of his own exercise, noting how quickly Raven had taken to the slow measured movements of tai-chi.

He had taught her several of his kata's and the rudiments of Shotokan karate during their enforced stay at the tower, Raven had agreed readily, more to give them something to do then out of any real enthusiasm for the style. "Watcha dooinggg?" And of course to prevent either one of them from becoming a convicted murderer… thought Robin as Beast boy bounced into the room grinning broadly.  
It wasn't that they didn't like the Green changeling…well Robin liked him, but even he was begging to seriously regret refusing Raven's offer of killing him.  
Evidently Cyborg was working on one of his 'projects' and had declared the garage a 'pest free zone so get!' kicking Beast boy out into the lonely basement of the tower.

Which of course mean that they had to put up with an extremely bored pain in the rear.

Just ignore him, focus on your movements thought Raven as she extended her leg in a mock kick.  
Now at least she could see why Robin practiced these routines so religiously; the slow even movements brought her a sense of peace she hadn't achieved in her mediation for months.

"We, Beast boy, are using this time constructively, working, training. Stop me if this rings any bells"  
Raven's scathing reply seemed to momentarily crush BB's spirit, but like the rubber he so often mimicked he bounced back quickly.

"Cool! Can I help"  
Robin silenced Raven's undoubtedly biting comment with a raised hand.  
"Actually BB I have the perfect job for you."

"You do? Cool!" It was a testament to just how bored BB was, he'd even agree to work.

"Yeah…you can be Raven's sparring partner, she could use the practice."

The grin that spread across Raven's sweat soaked face was positively demonic.

"eeep."

Interlude: Japan/Shrine of the West.

Slade stood straight and tall, before him lay the object of his search, the artefact that he had braved innumerable traps and Japanese Youkai to obtain.  
He approached the small font tentatively; wary of any new traps the evidently paranoid demon had set in place and stared down at the pool's mirror clear surface laying eyes on the object of his search for the first time:  
The Tjoulkin; sword of the great Daiyoukai Sesshomaru.

For a sword of such reputation it seemed remarkably plain, it's long straight blade contained in a simple shark-skin scabbard. However, for those attuned to such things the sword practically vibrated with barely contained power.  
The price for wielding such power would likely be great yet…  
"Needs must." Murmured Slade, plunging his hand into the pool.  
Instantly the once clear and tranquil liquid began to bubble and seethe, eating away at the flesh of his arm. The pain was indescribable, but for Slade pain was merely an annoyance, nothing more. Slade felt a thrill of triumph as what remained of his fingers closed around the Tjoulkin's sheath, tearing it from the pool with an explosive jerk, showing the room with droplets of acid that pooped and hissed where they hit the stone.  
Slade grunted and looked down at the Tjoulkin, tightly clutched in the now skeletal remains of his right hand.  
The attack came without warning; a rush of rage and hate so powerful it brought the revenant to his knees, against his will Slade felt his left hand fight to draw the blade, revealing a slim ribbon of polished steel that glowed red in the dim light of the shrine.  
Tjoukin fought with all the pent up rage of over five hundred years of imprisonment but Slade retaliated with the same force of will that had transcended death itself.  
Slowly, painfully the spirit of the sword relented and he slammed the sword back into it's sheath before falling back to the cold stone floor, breathing heavily and wincing slightly at the sting of his regenerating arm.  
The spirit trapped in the sword was powerful, far more powerful then he'd given it credit for and his respect for the swords former owner increased dramatically, this Sesshomaru would have made a worthy adversary.  
The time for idle thought was over; great things beckoned and Slade had precious little time left, he leapt to his feet and flexed his newly regenerated arm before stalking from the room, Tjoukin at his belt.

Interlude finish.

Titans tower

"Uhh Raven?"

"Yes Robin?" answered Raven cheerfully.

"I think you killed him." Said Robin, looking down at the prone form of Beast boy.  
Who Raven had in an excellent example of a figure-four arm lock, his shoulder and elbow hyper-extended in a position of extreme discomfort.  
Raven paused in her enthusiastic torturing of the green Changeling, BB had indeed fallen silent, unnaturally so, he'd stopped struggling too…

"Um… Beast Boy? You okay?" asked Raven, releasing from her hold and standing up. Revealing BB's oddly smiling face and glassy eyes.

"BB!" Raven knelt down next to him and shook him fearfully.

"…Boobs…"

It took them both a moment to realise what he meant, then it hit them, well Robin at least, Raven was to busy hitting Beast boy; Raven's execution of the figure-four arm lock and subsequent ratcheting of BB's arm had resulted in her pretty much smothering him in her lycra clad cleavage.  
Whilst Raven proceeded in finishing the job Robin looked on with an expression of mixed pity and envy; there were worse ways to go…

"Am I interrupting something?"

The Titans all turned to see Cyborg standing in the doorway of the gym looking quite amused at the spectacle of Raven's attempted murder of Beast boy and Robin's long suffering expression.

"Look who's here y'all." He exclaimed, moving aside to reveal Superman.  
"From the looks of things I got here not a moment too soon" chuckled the man of steel as he strode into the room.

Zwip

Raven looked down at her now empty hands in surprise; Beast boy had pretty much teleported over to greet his (one of many) idol.

"I just came to deliver these," he said, holding up a small shrink-wrapped bundle that Beast-boy snatched from him with surprising speed.

"Cool! Our League ID'S!"

Bout frikkin time Raven murmured to herself, only realising her mistake in muttering when Superman's super hearing is present when he shot her a disproving look.  
She retaliated with her patented 'death-glare 07' but was prevented from annoying him further by Beast boy's pressing her card into her chest with a frenzied sentence that might have been. "HARavenyoursisfunnybutminescool!"

Raven looked down at her 'membership' card, not bothering to disguise her expression of distaste; the picture was a particularly bad one. BB had snapped it just after Starfire had forced her to try some crack-pot recipe of hers which was so strong she'd gotten double vision and had to go lie down for an hour. Therefore, she looked like she was stoned out of her skull. Under "name" she' simply put 'Raven' but a quirk in the filing had listed her name as 'Raven-Raven' and whoever had listed her place of birth as 'Castle Wolfenstein' was definently going on her list. In short she wasn't impressed.

In contrast Beast boy and Cyborg couldn't get enough of their sparkly new ID cards, to them this was the big leagues, a chance to prove their 'mettle' (or in Cyborg's case metal) to the pros.  
Like Raven, Robin was less then impressed, the league hadn't lifted a finger to help them contain Slade, or even seemed to give a damn about the city until now, hell if their choice of guards was any indication they didn't much care now.

"Remind me again, what exactly are these for?"

"Dude! These are our League ID's! they…they…What do they do?"

Superman chuckled slightly at BB's puzzled look. "They allow you to requisition League resources and police assistance at any time you require it… wait a second"  
Superman paused as if distracted by something, turning his head slightly.  
"But jo'nn can give the rest of the information, I'm needed in metropolis."

"Wow! You can hear the screams in Metropolis from here?" If BB's eyes were any larger they'd have fallen out of his head, such was his expression of awe.

"No, but my pagers vibrating."

In the corner Robin broke down completely as BB's face fell slightly

"I'm sure that you're all eager to get out there again hey? I already took the liberty of telling Booster and Plastic-man to stand down so you can start right away."

And with a sharp breeze knocked Robin and Raven over and blur of blue the Man of steel was gone.

"I hate it when he does that.

From her perch overlooking the harbour Blackfire slid her communicator back into its holster, bloody hell those League twits really need some better security…Still with big blue out of the way all she needed now was a distraction, a booby for her trap, and she knew just the boob who'd work….

Here it is, the next chapter at last, we've had more interaction with the titans and caught of glimpse of Slade's shadowy activities. Just what is Trigon planning, what is Slade's ulterior motive, will anything interesting ever happen?

Some of these questions will be answered next time…maybe.

Notes: Special thanks goes to CS Dragono, being the only one to review my story thus far. All I can say is thanks and I hope you'll stick around for the conclusion. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Oh for god's sake not you again!"

"Prepare to die losers!"

Johnny Rancid, it had to be Johnny Rancid groused Raven to herself, darting aside to avoid a flying buick. This was the third time this week that Johnny had turned up, always armed to the teeth and always raving on about how "he was gonna gut them and hang their kidneys on his dash like dice!"

"Give it up Rancid!" cried Robin hurling a birdarang at the villains head, which to his dismay was simply blown from the sky by a well placed shot-gun blast.

"Yeah, we've handed your ass to you on a plate nearly every time you've turned up, what makes you think today will be different." Chipped in Beast boy as he leaped for Rancid, morphing into a tiger as he did so.

"Because all those other times I didn't have help." He smirked evilly and whistled shrilly as he racked the slide on his shot-gun

"C'mon REX, walkies!"

Instantly the ground before him exploded, showing the Titans in dust and debris as something bulled its way up from the sewers below.  
Superficially it looked somewhat like a T-rex crossed with a garbage truck that had eaten too many crayons, Rancid was evidently a practitioner of the "more is better" school of guns Unfortunately for beast boy said engine of destruction had appeared right in his intended flight path…

CLANG

"ouch…"

"Persuasive counter-argument." Breathed Raven as the massive machine took a step forward and roared, a sound that rattled the titan's teeth in their skulls.

Robin stared up at the mechanical monstrosity in shock for a moment but quickly pulled himself together "titans g-OOOF!" his usual battle cry was cut off mid-sentence as Rancid's latest shot-gun shell caught him cleanly in the ribs, throwing him from his feet and through the window of a nearby clothes store.  
"Suck on this losers!"

"For god's sake SHUT UP!" Cyborgs sonic cannon finally scored a hit, taking Rancid full in the face and blasting him clean through a wall.

Rex did not take kindly to such an assault on its master, so in retaliation it punted Beast-boy's prone form into an alley and proceeded to fire enough missiles to depopulate a small country.

Beast boy leapt back to his feet; just in time to see a missile 3 feet away from his face.  
"Aww crud"  
This was NOT how BB had wanted to go, fighting a mean villain like Slade or the joker sure, but Johnny Rancid? Some punk with a gun and a mech fetish?  
BB felt something slam into him, knocking the breath from his lungs, moments before a huge explosion stole his hearing.  
Several moments passed before BB dared to open an eye, the sounds of explosions and muffled swearing were still resounding through the area so he couldn't be dead… maybe the blast had knocked him flying instead of killing him, it would certainly explain why the ground was so warm, and soft and-

"Ahem."

"Oh…hello Blackfire, I uh…BLACKFIRE?" BB leapt to his feet in shock so fast he almost blurred.

"Yo green bean, looked like you could use some help there." She replied, giving BB the warmest smile he'd seen in weeks.

"Bu-but you're supposed to be in jail!"

"I come all this way just to see my favourite little fuzzy and all I get is accusations." She leaned in close and ran a hand along BB's chest "A girl might get the idea that she wasn't wanted"  
By this point any thoughts of the reasons or motives of Blackfire's appearance had been forcibly ejected from his mind by those thoughts which dealt with how good she looked in that skin-tight lycra/armour get-up and just where those hands were going.

"Hey BB! Where the hell are ya man?"

Blackfire cursed silently, she'd expected even someone as patently useless as Rancid to have lasted a bit longer against the titans, especially after her going to the effort of procuring the materials necessary to build that monstrosity of a mech that Robin and Raven were dismantling with extreme prejudice.  
"Ooops, time to go sweet-thing, meet me here in, say 4 hours?"

"guh?"

"Bye sweetie." Right, she nearly had him, just one more thing to seal the deal…  
Before BB could so much as squeak Blackfire swept him into the most mind-numbing kiss he'd ever experienced.

"Remember 4 hours!" And with that Blackfire had vanished. leaving an extremely shell-shocked Beat-boy to wander aimlessly back to his friends, who were at that very moment 'explaining' to Johnny that they did not like him trying to kill them and that he should never ever try this again unless he wanted to get Mr sonic-cannon angry, and he most defiantly would not like Mr sonic-cannon when he was angry.

"You know I'm beginning to wonder why those guys even bother." Said Raven, gesturing at the armoured SWAT troopers who had arrived just in time to drag the now comatose Rancid to jail. "I mean every time we hand someone over to them they're out in a week at most."

"Look, as much as I would like to discuss the finer points of our law enforcement team could this wait until after I've been to the infirmary?" replied Robin, probably more sharply then he'd meant to. Sure, his costume was bulletproof up-to and including .30 cal, but being shot by a 12 gauge at 20 feet still hurt like all hell. He'd probably be feeling this one for a week.

"Here." Said Raven as she walked over to Robin and placed a glowing hand on his shoulder. Almost immediately, Robin felt the pain lessen and the stiffness fled from his joints. He wasn't healed properly, but Raven's little top-up would cut a few days off his recovery time.  
"Thanks." Replied Robin with a grateful nod, making a mental note to pickup some of Raven's favourite tea next time he had the chance. It was common knowledge by now that raven's healing ability only transferred injuries instead of removing them, and anyone willing to feel like they've just been shot in the ribs deserves a decent cup of tea.

"Nice of you to join us." Raven said sardonically as she spotted BB tottering out of an alley, an incredibly dazed look on his face.

"Yo man what happened?" asked Cyborg as BB practically fell into the hulking teen.

"Missile, fire, BOOM!…."

"One of Rancid's missiles must have clipped him and blown him into the alley." Supplied Robin, to which BB nodded dazedly

"How many finger am I holding up BB?" asked Cyborg, holding up 3.

"Boom!"

"Mweh, close enough." Sighed Cyborg as he slung Beast boy over his shoulder just before Raven's aura enveloped them all.

Blackfire, was meanwhile on her way back to the abandoned cavern system that Slade had chosen as their base of operations. Blackfire hadn't had much experience with earth architecture up till now but she found it very…odd that jump city would have such a vast system of vaults and caverns beneath it, some of which looked both man-made and centuries old. Still, she'd spent a week observing the Titans movements through the city and Slade would have to be notified on her progress.  
Fortunately having their 'secret base' running under the entirety of the city meant that finding an access point was a simple matter of lifting up the nearest manhole cover and jetting through a few levels of remarkably clean sewers.  
So before long Blackfire had passed the huge pillars that marked the entrance to the sanctum of the forgotten temple, Blackfire neither knew nor cared who had built it but this was where they had arrived on earth and apparently the only place Skil'eearth could reside on this plane

"Ahh daughter of the Black-star, your trip was profitable I trust"  
Blackfire swore under her breath, and turned to watch Skil'eearth glide out of the shadows. It stood to reason that he would be here to great her with his buzzing 'voice' and sickening stench of blood and ash.

"Sod off Skil'eearth I'm here to see Slade."

"Such harsh words! I but come bearing a gift from your sweet sister and you rebuke me, it her hurt her so much to part with it too. She has such lovely eyes don't you think?" the demon replied, filling Blackfire's thoughts with it's mock pain at her insult. Skil'eearth was always like this around her, smug in the knowledge that she couldn't do a thing to hurt it in any way.

Gift? What on earth could Starfire have to give her? Trapped as she was in the maze of chains Skil'eearth used as a home. Still, she'd do anything provided it meant that the bloody demon would go away.

"Fine, give it here, I've got work to do."

Yellow eyes gleaming maliciously, Skil'eearth floated over and dropped his gift into Blackfire's waiting hand before vanishing in a inky cloud.  
Blackfire looked down at her palm and screamed.  
Clutched in her now dripping hand was a green, blood-smeared orb...Starfire's eye.

Ok, not much of an update but I am going to continue this.

If anyone actually has an opinion on this would you mind reviewing? 


	6. Chapter 6

"Get out here you fucking bastard!" Blackfire screamed, totally incensed now. Starfire's eye still clutched in her shaking hand.  
Hating her sister was all well and good, but this! This was too much, what else had the demon done to her, during these weeks they'd spent hiding underground

If Skil'eearth heard her (and she knew that he did) the demon gave no reply, not even the gruesome hacking sound that he used as laughter.

"Calm yourself apprentice."

Blackfire spun round, fist flying before she'd even begun to think about who the voice belonged to.

Slade didn't bother to dodge or even block Blackfire's clumsy strike, instead letting it hit him in the chest with enough force to move him from Blackfire's right to behind her, his feet tearing furrows in the stone.

Blackfire span around in terror she hadn't meant to hit Sla-

"What is wrong apprentice?" asked Slade without a hint of anger in his voice and from the looks of things completely without injury. Causing Blackfire to take a step back in shock; that blow would have felled a raging Tarlax and he brushed it off like it hadn't happened…  
Wordlessly She passed Starfire's eye to Slade, shock melting back into rage as she did so.

"I presume that you are here to report your progress in infiltrating Titans tower"  
Slade cut straight to the mission, not reacting to her angry words, not striking her for her impudence, for his plans to even have a hope of succeeding he needed Blackfire on his side. But, he mused looking down at the bloody eye in his palm, He would have to accelerate his plans somewhat if Starfire was still going to be of use to him as a bargaining chip.

"But!" Her eye! She had just given Slade her sister's eye and he didn't even-.

Slade cut her tirade off with a raised hand, flicking through a series of gestures almost too fast for the eye to follow.  
Blackfire's eyes widened; Slade was using LAurik, a form of sign language he'd drilled into her during their training together, a language he'd told her he'd use only when something of grave importance needed to be related.

atiencepay apprentice-ay, e-theay emoneay ll-waay aypay in ueday imtay

/ alyreay? E-theay tardbasay is-ay lingkilay ymay tersisay/ replied Blackfire switching to LAurik and calming slightly, whatever Slade had to say he wanted kept secret, and if Skil'eearth wasn't to know it HAD to be good.

syeay, allay lwiay be ademay eacleay, telay itay tresay onay ethay tfacay eearthay'lskiay lwilay fuersufay "Now what have you to report?"

"I made first contact earlier today, I choose Beast boy as my target."

Slade nodded in satisfaction, His apprentice had chosen well; none too bright and easily duped; the green shape shifter was easily the weakest link in the Titan's security. Indeed HE had chosen Beast boy the last time an apprentice of his had infiltrated the titans…  
Slade paused, his thoughts drifting back to Terra, the most powerful of his apprentice, to her betrayal of him, to the molten stone rising up to meet him…

"Master?"

Blackfire's use of the honorific snapped Slade back to reality and he instantly cursed himself for the slip, such weakness would not be tolerated, not in his minions and most certainly not in himself!  
A nearly imperceptible shake of his head banished the distracting thoughts from his mind, now was the time for business, emotion had no place in a plan whose success rested on such a slim hope.

"And what of the rest of the Titans?"

"Totally unaware of my presence, hell as far as they're concerned I'm still locked up on Tameran. Although it appears that they have become substantially more powerful then predicted, Rancid; my 'distraction' barely lasted long enough for me to make first contact."

"And?"

"I've made arrangements to meet with Beast boy in a few hours, give it a week and we'll be able to move around the tower like it was ours." Replied Blackfire with a satisfied smirk, she'd always loved infiltration jobs.

A week? The appointed time was fast approaching, the cardinal mark HAD to be sullied before Raven began her awakening, else his entire plan would crumble.  
Slade curbed those thoughts quickly, a residual tension, like a violin's string wound too tight, in the rooms leylines told him that Skil'eearth, however it seemed, was still present in the room, watching and probing. And whilst Slade felt sure that his metal defences were more then adequate to the task of repelling the demon it would be imprudent to take unnecessary risks in such a crucial time.

"3 days."

"What?"

Slade's single eye narrowed. He was not in the habit of repeating himself, even for his 'allies' and the tone of that "'what?' had come dangerously close to disrespectful, something he would NOT tolerate. Moreover, he had to put on a show lest the demon began to suspect. "3 days apprentice, you have 3 days to complete you mission before I take things into my own hands."

Almost as soon as Slade had finished speaking a shudder ran through the temple, the symbols over the later had flared; releasing a pulse of such malignant power that even Blackfire reeled from its passing. Such a pulse could mean only one thing; Trigon demanded an audience.

"You have your orders apprentice, now go, and do not return until your mission is complete."

Blackfire nodded once and vanished, slipping into the shadows of the temple like he had taught her.

Almost as an afterthought Slade congratulated himself, Blackfire had proven to be an excellent apprentice, absorbing his teachings with a hunger for strength that almost rivalled his own. whilst his previous charges were undoubtedly superior, Robin in terms of skill and Terra in power, Blackfire possessed something which neither of her predecessors had; ambition. She wanted power, and knew that serving Slade would grant her that power.  
Of course Slade mused, such ambition would have to be carefully monitored, lest her reach proved longer then her grasp.  
Another bass rumble reverberated through the now silent chamber, shaking Slade from his thoughts.  
It was almost time for him to take a hand in the play.

"Blackfire?"

No response. Beast boy sighed and slumped against a wall dejectedly, it was four hours after the incident with Johnny Rancid and, as promised beast boy had returned to the alley, eager for his rendezvous with Blackfire, happy thoughts of meeting gorgeous girls in the moonlight flitting through his mind, and what did he find?

Zero, nothing, nada 'I should have expected as much.' He thought sullenly berating himself for believing in what was obviously a missile-induced hallucination. The real Blackfire was still locked up on Tameran, and even if she wasn't who on earth could him attractive?

A pair of hands shot from the shadows and pulled him into a crushing embrace.  
"Am I late?" asked Blackfire, taking special care to rub Beast boy's face into her breasts as much as possible.  
"Beast boy"  
Blackfire held the green shape shifters limp body at arms length and examined his swirly eyes carefully.  
"Note to self; less surprises."

15 minutes later

"So…you're real?"

"Yes silly, I thought I'd made that abundantly clear." Purred Blackfire as she stretched, making sure to thrust her chest out as far as possible.

"Eheh…heh." Beast boy was still reeling, and not only from the shock he'd just received, If Blackfire was here then where was Starfire? And more to the point why was Blackfire here?  
He voiced these concerns. Noting how Blackfire's eyes flickered violet at the mention of her sister.

"Starfire? Nope, haven't seen her, and I already told you why I'm here remember?" said Blackfire, feigning innocence. Truth be told she hadn't actually seen Starfire since her prison visit a month ago, indeed she'd only recently learned of her being Skil'eearth's clutches.

"This is bad, She's been missing for over a month now, if you haven't seen her…I have to tell Robin and the others, we need to look for her!

At this Blackfire drew back in alarm ""No! you can't tell the others that I'm here! They'll blame me for Starfire, you know they will!"

"Ok ok! I won't tell anyone, yeesh." Exclaimed Beast boy, slightly alarmed by Blackfire's reaction the Tameranean was usually unflappable, unless you counted the whole murderous rage thing.

"Thanks."

An awkward silence reigned as the both sat there, Beast boy trying to work out how to proceed whilst Blackfire marvelled at how easily the green boy had believed her, the first person aside from Slade to do so in a long time.

Surprisingly it was Beast boy who spoke first "Would you…gah! Would you like to get something to eat"  
Blinking in shock Blackfire nodded dumbly, mentally cackling the whole time; the green fool was doing her job for her!

"Ok then!" said Beast boy, turning around and preparing to leap into the air.  
"And what do you think you're doing?" interrupted Blackfire.  
"Uummm, flying"  
"Nope." Replied Blackfire, wagging a finger playfully "You're buying me dinner, the least I can go is give you a ride"  
Beast boy idly noted that if Blackfire used any more innuendo he'd be unlikely to survive the night without suffering an aneurysm of some sort.

"What about that Place?" asked Blackfire, indicating a small diner on the outskirts of town as they flew past.

"NO."

Slightly shocked at the harsh, angry tone BB had taken Blackfire slowed and turned her head to look at him.  
"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." he said, tone practically screaming at her to drop it, but Blackfire wasn't about to let this go.

"Is it...is it about her?" Slade had told her about Terra, how he had instructed the girl to take advantage of the boy in much the same way she was now.  
"  
"Right, that's it"  
"Wha"  
"You and I are going to the nearest diner where you are going to buy sickening amounts of junk food, which we shall eat, one more mournful sigh out of you and I kick you so hard you'll be Beast 'Boy' for LIFE! Am I understood?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good."

This continued for the next two days, Beast boy finding a reason to leave the tower or just sneaking out, flying to the alley that had become 'their' spot, meeting up with Blackfire and then roaming the city.  
The other Titans had been quite curious about his nocturnal wandering, Cyborg singing "BB's got a girlfriend!" until physically restrained, But Beast boy wasn't telling them a thing, for the first time since Terra a girl was going at with him for being him, Blackfire wanted nothing more then to spend time with him, She didn't belittle his intelligence or call him names, she didn't send him mixed signals all the time. (Indeed if Blackfire's signals were to be any clearer, she would have jumped him by now)  
Touching down in the seemingly empty alleyway Beast boy pulled a small sliver disk from his belt and gave it a squeeze.  
Blackfire had given him the disk as a means of giving her the all clear, she'd been a little jumpy after Cyborg had followed BB out one night.

"Blackfire?"

"The one and only." she replied with a sultry purr, dropping down from her perch into his arms.

"You had me worried for a moment there."

"You know I wouldn't miss tonight for the world."

Beast boy grinned broadly before continuing, "Where do you wanna go tonight?"

"I thought we could try…your place, big boy." She replied, running a hand down BB's chest.

"The tower? But if the others find out they'll-"

"They won't find out, besides… I'll make it worth your while…" she replied nibbling his neck playfully to accentuate her point.

'guh' thought Beast boy, his brain always turned to mush when she did that

"Beast boy?"

No response, good. Blackfire extricated herself from his grip and began to pull her clothes back on, the plan had almost failed there and then; the guy as insatiable! What Beast boy lacked in experience he certainly made up with enthusiasm.

Looking down at his sleeping form brought his earlier words to her mind;

"I've wanted to say this to you for a while, you're… You're the first person since…since Terra to be this nice to me, the first person that hasn't wanted to use me…" he paused here, obviously too choked up to carry right away.  
"I guess I'm trying to say that I really like you Blackfire…"

He was so earnest she was actually starting to feel bad about using him…  
Whoa there girl, she stooped that train of thought, it was almost beginning to seem like she had morals or something silly like that…  
Departing beast boy's room with a blown kiss she focused on the job at hand; finding Raven's room.

Fortunately the layout of the tower seemed to be the same as her last visit, and although the pitch black voids the Titans called 'halls' were no hindrance to her she had to wonder what they had against interior lighting.

Luckily, Blackfire found the gothic museum that Raven called a bedroom fairly quickly, and judging from the slow, regular rise and fall of the bundle on the bed she was fortunate enough to find Raven sound asleep. It was a matter of seconds to reach the slumbering girl (being a flyer had its perks alright) but it was here that Blackfire met the first snag of the evening; Raven was lying face down…How could she get her at her forehead without the volatile girl waking up and nuking her?

After a moment of concentration it came to her, it was a risky plan, but it just might work; now how did her sister's voice sound again?

A relatively unknown talent of Blackfire's was ventriloquism and voice mimicry, talents that had served her well as a child and would do so here.

"Friend Raaven…" she cooed softly in Starfire's airy contralto.

In response Raven mumbled something indistinct but otherwise remained still.

"Friend Raaven." She tried again, this time accompanying her words with a feather-light caress of Raven's back. This time Raven rolled over and flailed a sleepy hand in her direction.  
"Nuh now Star"  
Unbidden Blackfire felt a small surge of jealousy; Raven had always been buxom for her height and from the looks of things now outstripped her own 'endowments'  
"Lucky bitch"  
Grumbling slightly she pulled a small tin of foul smelling dye from a pocket and set to work. The mark was applied quickly and simply; a nine-pointed star with a burning eye intersected by a triangle in its centre. Blackfire didn't know what it meant but felt a flicker of uneasiness as she completed the last line, causing the mark to glow brightly against the grey skin of Raven's brow before fading from view entirely.  
Almost immediately, the chakra stone of Raven's forehead began to glow an angry red and the girl began to toss and turn, very nearly striking Blackfire in the face with a wild swing.

"Gahh!" Raven sprang upright with a scream and lashed out with an umbral claw at: nothing…her room was as empty as it had been when she had gone to sleep. Yet she could have sworn…  
"OW!"a sudden flash of pain derailed Raven's train of thought, it was like someone had split her head open!  
Clutching her skull Raven staggered upright and fished a small blue bottle from her bedside table; Nixie moonshine, a powerful chemical that was to painkillers and sleeping pills what a chainsaw was to a butter knife. Trembling slightly she pulled the stopper out and downed the contents and grimaced at its foul taste. Almost instantly she felt the numb fuzzy feeling of the potion as it took affect, laying down her suddenly heavy head to sleep.

Blackfire gave a small sigh of relief as she crawled out from under Raven's bed, it looked like the mind-screening lessons Slade had taught her had been worth something after all. Judging from the frankly prodigious snoring coming form Raven's now still form she had managed to evade detection. All that was left was to escape the tower and find Slade.

Deep below the city, in the forgotten catacombs that housed his new home Skil'eearth looked up from his work in alarm; there had been a large pulse of demonic power, like the whole city had shuddered.  
The girl…

"huuuh…" Skil'eearth turned at the ragged sigh, the shattered wretch hung limply from his chains, blood pooling around her feet from a myriad of cuts and incisions. With a gesture, Skil'eearth brought her forward, the chains holding rising until she hung mere inches from his face, yellow eyes glaring into ruined sockets.  
Did you feel it too? This moment marks the beginning of the end for your puny world, I might even keep you alive long enough to see it His captive only wheezed in response, the lung he had so lovingly punctured drowning her words.  
Speak with your mind child

W-Why? WhY? Skil'eearth drew back slightly in surprise. Why? I am a demon, girl! This is what I am!

But such things don't matter now rasped Skil'eearth as he drew a blade from the air.  
Scream for me would you? It sharpens the mind so nicely

Deep below the sleeping city Starfire screamed and screamed and screamed.

First off I'm sorry for the long wait, it's been a pretty hectic time for me lately so writing's not exactly been a priority. 

The language Slade and Blackfire are conversing in is pig-latin, for those unable to understand pig-latin a translation is included below:

"Patience my apprentice, the demon will pay."

"Really? The bastard is killing my sister!

Yes all will be made clear, let it rest on the fact that Skil'eearth will suffer.

Just for the record; I don't hate Starfire, infact I quite like her. But I feel totally unable to write her with any degree of accuracy, so I have a tendency to write her out as soon as possible.  
For all the Starfire fans: she will be coming into this story as an actual character! 


	7. Chapter 7

Raven was awoken by what she assumed was her alarm clock, an incessant beeping tune that set her teeth on edge.  
"uhh…What time is it?"

"Raven!"

With a yelp of shock Raven fell sideways out of her bed onto the floor. After angrily freeing herself from the quilt she levitated over to the door, still more asleep then awake.

"Raven"  
Again the call, slamming into Raven's fragile nerves like a sledgehammer, this had better be GOOD!

"What?"

The door slid open to reveal an impatient looking Beast-boy. "We've been calling you for half an hour!"

"I was asleep."

"Well pull yourself together; we've got trouble in the industrial area."

Great, just what she needed, a trip to noisy, foul smelling factories when her head was already pounding.  
"I'll be down shortly." She replied curtly.  
"Oh and Raven?"

"What"  
"You might want to put some clothes on…"

The door slammed in his face.

Throwing herself into the shot-gun seat of the T-car Raven nodded a greeting to Cyborg.  
"Mornin sunshine." She answered with death glare number 9; chilling and a warning but a sign that it was not quite his fault if she did snap on him.

"What's the news"  
"Not a clue, one of the heavy metal factories in the Southside's been attacked. But as for who or why; no idea"  
Raven settled back into her seat glaring at the dashboard in a manner that promised dismemberment.

"Whoever it is I hope they roll over and die"  
"Bad night darkgirl?"

"I had very little sleep, my head feels like its being crushed by Cinderblock and I flashed BB this morning, what do you think?"

Cyborg flashed her a kind smile, he'd been on the receiving end of a bad day more then enough to see one forming.

"Tell ya what, if this ain't a false alarm I'll make ya waffles for breakfast. Sound good?"

In answer Raven lent back into her hood, grumbling but Cyborg could tell that she was thinking it over, she was pretty pissed, but she did like her waffles.

"With or without syrup?"

"Maple AND chocolate."

"Deal."

"That's my girl."

The trip was less then pleasant; Raven could hear Beast Boy's little fantasies about her little 'slip' earlier and the passing traffic felt like it was being driven through her skull, even the promise of waffles was begging to lose it appeal, and, when that happened all hope was lost.  
About 20 minutes later the T-car pulled up outside a large black building right in the middle of the industrial district.

"Shouldn't there be some smoke or something?" asked Beastboy as Robin pulled up beside them.  
Robin didn't answer but quickly scanned the area; aside from the general gloom and clash of the factories general affairs the area was silent and conspicuously still.

"Cyborg, Raven, take the front. BB you're with me."

"Yo"  
"Got ya"  
"Ok."

The sight that greeted them was far from normal and worse then they could have feared.

"Hello titans."

Slade.

Beneath his mask Slade allowed himself a satisfied smirk at the Titan's expressions of shock and fear. It was almost worth the pain of death for Raven's expression alone.

"But…how?" Robin's mind was reeling; Slade, whole and smug as ever sitting on a gantry like that tumble into the lava never happened.

"Yeah! Terra smacked you down HARD."

Slade hopped down from his perch, treating the thirty foot drop like a high kerb.

"Ah yes, dear, sweet confused Terra. How is she these days?"

Cyborg put a steadying hand on Beast boy's shoulder as the shifter leapt forward. "Steady Gar."

"What the hell do you want Slade? Still trying to take over this city?"

"Oh no, nothing like that dear Robin. I merely dropped in to say 'hello'; after all, it's been so long since we've seen each other like this. Almost a year I believe." Slade looked around, miming surprise at their diminished numbers.

"And what's this? No Starfire to brighten my day with her dazzling smile? I'm shocked Robin, truly shocked, I'd have thought that you'd take better care of her."

Almost absentmindedly Slade tipped his head to the left, neatly dodging Robin's thrown razor.  
"Temper, temper Robin, I haven't come to play with you today, today is for dear little Raven"  
Instantly Cyborg and Beast boy were between him and Raven as she took a reflexive step back.  
"What do you want with her"  
"Now, is that really any of your business?"

"You want Raven, you have to go through US." Snarled Beast boy.

"I suppose I should have known, still, it has been a while since we last fought and I-"

"TITANS GO!" Slade's words were cut off by Robin's cry and thrown disc.

"Not bad." Said Slade, ducking a lightning fast punch, "not bad at all." He hopped back beyond Robin's kick, catching it in a grip like iron. "But not good enough." Robin barely had time to yelp as he was flung aside, skipping over the hard iron of the floor like a thrown ball.

Cyborg was next, launching a fierce right-hook that would have taken Slade's head from his shoulders, if Slade hadn't neatly sidestepped the blow, grabbing the teen by his wrist in passing. From here all it took was a simple tug to unbalance him and;

WHAM

Cyborg barely had time for a stifled yelp as the gantry beneath him gave way as all 250KG of his titanium/steel body was slammed through it by Slade's almost negligent toss.

Beast boy leapt from the shadows, changing forms to that of a tiger. But Slade span and caught him by the neck, twisting and using the beast's own momentum to fling him from the gantry and down into the smelting pit.

He paused, slowly flexing his neck with a serious of chilling cracks before turning to face her.

"Now, it's Raven time."

I know this has been stupidly late; all my fics have been in limbo for an inexcusable length of time.  
This chapter is short, annoying I know but it really needs to end here for drama. 


	8. Chapter 8

"How are we feeling today Raven?"

A piece of gantry burst from its mooring and flew at Slade's head. He absently brushed it aside.

"Come now, I simply wish to talk."

"I've got nothing to say to you!" cried Raven, drifting backwards as she sought more objects to hurl at the taunting figure.

"Can you not feel it approaching?"

"Feel what?"

"Oh don't play coy with me child, you know, you were born knowing."

The gantry beneath Slade gave a horrendous groan as it was ripped free and forced over upon itself, crushing the surprised Slade between the two swiftly moving halves.

Below them Beast Boy struggled to right himself and swore loudly as his head hit the wall of the smelting pit again, flying wouldn't help if he couldn't concentrate.

Suddenly a pair of hands closed around his waist and all downwards motion ceased with a stomach-twisting lurch, strong arms wrapping around his shoulders.

"Going my way hot stuff?" sang out a voice he knew so well.

"Blackfire!"

"Got it in one green-bean."

"But you-"

"Didn't think I'd let him fry my fuzzy did you?" she interrupted cheerily.

Above them Raven collapsed to her knees, clutching at her head as the pain intensified, the jewel on her brow seemed to burn, seemed to try to bore through her skull why was this…NOT now!

"Headache? Such a pity."

With a terrified yelp Raven dove into the air as Slade's hand closed upon the space her shoulder had been occupying seconds before.  
The man looked up, single eye narrowing in what might have been amusement.  
"Running again Raven? Surely you of all people know how futile that is?"

"Futile this!"

Slade span in shock just as Cyborg's fist slammed into his face, the force of the blow lifting him from his feet and smashing him through the collection of pistons and gears that occupied the opposite wall.  
Breathing hard as the cacophony of crashing metal died Cyborg turned to Raven, eyes anxious.

"Rae are you-" Cyborg trailed off at the terrified look on Raven's face.

"I thought that I said this was Raven time."

"What th"  
He turned, turned so fast that he bluured but-  
WHAM! Cyborg rocked back as Slade's fist hammered into his gut, seconds before his knee rose to meet the teens falling chin, with a CRACK that was felt rather then heard Cyborg flew backwards, or began to, Slade's hand whipped out and pulled the teen back into another punishing series of punches that ended with him straddling the battered Titan, arm raised, hand in a curious position; fingers splayed yet clenched base of the palm rigid.

"It's called the leopard blow" he said to Raven in a conversational tone. "The base of the hand drives the victim's nasal bone up into the brain, death occurs almost instantly. Shall we see if that holds true for our metallic friend here?"

Through the pain Raven saw Robin running up from behind Slade but there was no way he could get their in time, Beast boy…Beast boy was gone.

"It seems I must resort to drastic measures then." And with that Slade's fist fell.

Clrack

Silence reigned as Raven and Robin stared at Cyborg's bloody face in horror.

Raven snapped.

It was like a wave from an abyssal ocean, cold, dark and unstoppable. It washed over everyone and everything, the pistons stopped, steam hung in the air and Cyborg's dripping blood stopped in its slow fall.

Here the pain was gone, or Raven ignored it, she couldn't tell. All she knew was that she was by Cyborg's still form, sobbing and clutching his cracked armour.

"You stupid fool, you stupid, stupid fool…"

"Haven't you forgotten something?"

Raven looked up in horror as Slade's single eye rolled to look at her as his entire body became outlined in vivid red flames.

"You cannot stop me anymore then you can stop him, I am the knell of your destiny Raven and I WILL NOT BE SILENCED!"

Raven could only gape in horror as; with a roar that vibrated in her bones Slade flexed his arms as heat and light poured from him, driving away her chill grip on his time.

"No…"

"Yes"

The ground around Slade exploded, sending shards of metal and tongues of fire flying everywhere, a sliver of gantry clipped her charka stone, flooring her but not actually cutting.

The foundry was gone, the city was gone. A lake of fire stretched out before her.

Raven took a staggering step forward, the suddenly uneven ground harsh and spiky beneath her feet

In the distance a Titanic figure roared in triumph, four eyes gleaming the colour of spilt blood.

"This is what awaits the world, the rule of he who can never fall, the prince of skulls"  
Raven span in shock at Slade's cool voice, the mercenary was standing a little way off to her left but made no move to attack.

"A world in ruin, hell incarnate."

"Then why help him!?" why create this?"

Slade bent down low and drew her face close to his; lifting her till they were mere centimetres apart.

"Why indeed?"

And then he was gone, simply gone. Leaving Raven's limp form to slide onto the floor as sound and movement returned to the world. 


	9. Chapter 9

Hello to anyone who still checks my fiction. Been a while hasn't it?

Sorry for the rushed feel of these updates but I've finally gotten both time and some inspiration. I've been bouncing between my own original fiction, real work and college work so much lately I haven't been able to keep anything straight.

I think I should be ablt to update a bit now, a fresh chunk of Titan's lost is almost ready as are some new fics that you might find interesting.  
PS: would anyone be interesting in a Titan's story, involving a war between the Gordanians and Starfire's people?

Blackfire blinked, a moment ago Slade and Raven had been standing mere feet apart, Robin jumping forward to attack, there had been a funny flash of…black? Then they were gone, just gone.

The foundry was dead, gutted of motion and flame, huge rents were torn through the corrugated floor and, in at least to places the metal had run as if it were water, forming pools and striations that stung the senses.

Her eyes were drawn to the prone Cyborg, blood pooling around his head, her knowledge of human physiology wasn't great (does Beast Boy count?) but that couldn't be healthy…

"What the hell just happened?" With small yelp Blackfire nearly dropped her passenger; in her search for Slade she'd entirely forgotten about BB.

"You ok Komi?" The changeling's voice was still shaky from his fall. wordlessly Blackfire pointed to the bodies, easily keeping Beast boy aloft with a single arm.  
"No…"

Robin, his training under Batman overriding his shock, crouched down by his friends still forms.  
Raven seemed battered but alive, the steady rise and fall of her chest indicator enough, but Cyborg…  
Robin had seen the leopard blow performed only once, Bruce had demonstrated its power in training by shattering a block of stone; he knew it was fatal.

Blackfire set BB down a little way behind Robin but hung back while the green shifter ran to his fallen friend.  
Idly Robin noted the rogue Tameranean's presence but ignored it; mind racing ahead through the reasons for Slade's reappearance, his new powers anything to avoid the now.

"Uhh…"

Both Robin and Beast boy jumped back in shock as Cyborg pulled himself upright, coughing blood.

"b-bbut you were dead!"

"What happened?" interjected Robin, his simmering rage springing to the fore now that Cyborg was apparently alive

"…internal diagnostics read minor damage…" Cyborg gave his head a sharp shake before continuing in his more familiar tone. "He pulled that punch, Slade coulda had me dead…but he didn't." replied Cyborg slowly, shakily pulling himself upright.  
"What's she doing here?" he queried, pointing a shaky finer over Robin's shoulder.

Robin's eyes narrowed as he turned to Blackfire for the first time "I intend to find out…."

It was 3 hours later, Robin, obviously angry but seeing the need for restraint had waited until Raven was safely stowed away in the Towers infirmary before going ballistic.

"I consider myself a reasonable man Garfield, so I'm only going to ask this once, why is SHE here"  
Beast boy winced; Robin's even, almost calm tone and the use of his real name meant that he was far beyond merely angry and, judging from the twitching of his mask, accelerating off into full-blown rage.

With a buzz the Towers computer screen blinked into life.  
"This is the Martian Manhunter, respond T-tower."

Robin ignored it.  
"If you think-"

"I repeat, this is the Martian Manhunter, respond!"

Robin shuddered with barely repressed fury and they both saw that it took all that remained of the boy wonders already strained patience not to put a fist through the screen.

"GO!...Just go! I'll deal with you later." He added darkly, although to whom was anyone's guess.

Retreating into the hall Beastboy and Blackfire waited until the sounds of Robin's shouting match with the Martian Manhunter died away before speaking.

"What was that all about?"

"Robin's been having 'issues' with the league lately"  
Replied beast boy, still amazed at their luck.  
Blackfire didn't say anything. Recognising that, however cheerful Beast boy might seem the boy was in shock

"Hey"  
Before she could stop herself Blackfire span around, eyes glowing indigo and a blackbolt already crackling into life in her palm.

"Whoa there!"

It was Cyborg emerging from the elevator doors they'd just passed. He didn'ty even glance in Blackfire's direction, just strode over to BB.

"How's Raven?" said Beast boy, eyes still downcast

"Still asleep. It…it wiped her out"  
The Titan's spent a shared moment of silence that Blackfire couldn't even attempt to intrude on but she could see the shock, even the fear on their faces; one of their greatest foes…No THE great, had literally come back from the dead. Taken everything they had and more and just kept coming.  
"Ahem"  
Blackfire jerked awake, almost cursing herself as she realised that Cyborg had somehow taken up position right in front of her, glowing red eye boring into her violet ones.

"Look, I don't know why you're back and, right now, I don't much care. But… if BB says you're ok I can live with that."

"I…thank you."

The next few days passed in a blur of activity and barely contained anger; Robin's league updates almost always degenerated into sprawling arguments lasting for hours at a time, the chief complaint was the leagues utter lack of aid, not just now but ever since the Titans had been founded.

"Not going well"  
Robin turned to see a somewhat bleary Raven drift into the room, things had calmed down since Slade but the psion was still badly shaken.  
She knew something about this, something that she wasn't telling them. Robin could tell, had been around to many people with too many dark secrets not to see them right in front of him.

"They won't help, say that Slade isn't a high enough threat level to merit support"  
Robin's voice trailed away into meaningless noise and Raven had to grasp the doorframe to support herself as a shudder ran through her body, every muscle clenching and unclenching in one long slow burn.

"Raven!"

Robin's voice returned and the pain faded as his mask swam into view and Raven realised that she must have collapsed.  
"Whats wrong"  
"T-trouble." She croaked, throat suddenly raw and tight seconds before the Titan signal went off.  
Robin ignored it, slowly pulling the still shaking girl to her feet and pulling her over to the couch.  
Beast-boy and Cyborg burst in just as the wall-screen lit up displaying a quintet of faces they could have done without seeing.

-Robbery in progress; location: Eastside docks, Wayne-tech warehouse. Perpetrators: Jynx,Mammoth,Gizmo,Kidwycked,Private HIVE-

"I'm ok Robin, really." Protested Raven, trying to push the concerned crime fighter away. "we need to move."

Letting the girl push him back Robin stood. "We aren't doing anything. YOU are staying here while Cyborg, Beast boy and I deal with the HIVE"  
Raven opened her mouth to protest, to try to fool herself as well as him but one look at that white-eyed glare and the mass of pent-up rage and frustration behind it closed Raven's mouth.

"ok."

"Good." Robin turned back to the others. Body tensing at the thought of finally having something to take his frustrations out on.  
Something that screamed.

"Titan's GO!"


End file.
